Chemistry
by Amiable Loner
Summary: He knew he had treated her unfairly. This was his peace-offering.


Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Reid anxiously fidgeted with his watch as he checked the time for the umpteenth time in ten minutes. He had arrived earlier than usual to be sure that his plan was set in motion but now that any moment the plan was going to go beyond the point of no return he felt his stomach clench with nerves. Any minute now Emily Prentiss would arrive and find the small basket he'd left on her desk.

To be perfectly honest it was a peace offering. Looking back on his behavior in recent months Reid knew he'd been extremely unfair and uncharacteristically hostile to Prentiss. Truthfully he hadn't really been very amiable to anyone but the fact remained that he knew her the least amount of time and thus she bore the brunt of his emotional tumult. She had been trying to help; they had been getting along well before Georgia but in the aftermath of his abduction and subsequent battle with addiction he'd all but destroyed what relationship they had.

The young profiler tensed as he saw Emily's familiar form enter the bullpen. He watched absently return a few greetings as she made her way to her desk. Reid pretended to busy himself in a file. Prentiss briefly glanced in his direction before her eyes fell on the neatly decorated basket sitting innocently on her desk. Confusion colored her features as she set down her bag, pulled out her chair, sat down, and carefully opened the gift.

The warm, comforting aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafted from the basket. Emily brought one to her lips and Reid discreetly watched as she savored the treat. He felt some of the tension flow from his body.

He watched as Prentiss searched the basket for any clue as to whom it was from but her search was unsuccessful. She glanced around, no doubt profiling everyone her eyes landed on to deduce whether or not they had left the delectable treat.

Finally her eyes landed on him and he couldn't help but stare back. Something in his face must have given him away because surprise momentarily flared upon her features as she looked between him and her cookies. "Did you give these to me?" she asked. There was nothing remotely hostile about her tone; surprise and perhaps a little incredulous yes, but nothing that suggested she harbored any ill will toward him. Taking courage from that Reid nodded.

"Yeah I, uh, made them for, uh, you, to, you know, ah, apologize," he stammered. He was never really comfortable speaking to anyone that he did not know well and now his self-esteem was at an all time low. On top of that he knew he had wronged her and wouldn't blame her if she decided to throw the basket at his head. He was thankful he even managed to get that one sentence out without bursting into a random statistic.

Emily did not throw the basket at him. Instead her eyes softened and she said, "Reid, you don't need to apologize…"

"Yes I do," he interrupted in a rush. She looked a little surprised that he had done so but he knew if he didn't get this out now he never would. "I had no right to treat you the way I did. You were only trying to help and it was wrong of me to lash out at you for being brave enough to vocalize what you were worried about." Reid felt the need to catch his breath after that little speech. He watched her expression, inwardly preparing for some kind of fall out.

"You were acting pretty badly," she agreed but her tone held no heat or bitterness. "I suppose I shouldn't have pried but I could see you were hurting and it didn't seem as if anyone else had noticed." A little smile pulled at the corner of her lips and Reid found his own lifting in response. "I want you to know I wasn't judging you Reid," she continued. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. I just didn't want to see you throw your life away."

"I think I can appreciate that now," Reid answered solemnly. He hesitated. "So…are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good," Emily affirmed as a bright smile spread over her features. Reid smiled as well. Relief washed over him in waves so strong he almost felt light-headed. There was a comfortable silence between the two for a few moments before Emily gestured with the cookie still held in her hand. "Seriously, you made these?"

"Um, yeah, it's, ah, my grandmother's recipe," Reid explained awkwardly. "I, uh, used to help my mom bake when I was a kid and I remembered you like chocolate."

"These are amazing!" Emily exclaimed. "I knew Garcia baked but I didn't know you could. No offense, but you're not the greatest cook."

"I know but baking isn't that hard," Reid mumbled sheepishly. "At least, a straightforward recipe like that isn't. It's just chemistry when you think about it. You have ingredients that are essentially the reactants in a chemical reaction and the cookie is the product…." He stopped when he noticed her grinning and shaking her head. "W-what?" he stammered.

"You're the only person I know who would compare baking with a chemistry project," she answered still grinning. "I've missed your rambles," she admitted. A hesitant, wry smile tweaked at Reid's lips.

"You might not say that in a few weeks," he pointed out.

"Only when you go off on a tangent at a really inappropriate time," she teased. Reid found himself feeling at ease with the friendly bantering.

"Peas and chocolate," he replied. Prentiss chuckled and reached into the basket and handed him one of the cookies.

"Here doctor, enjoy one of your chemical creations."

And just like that Reid knew he was forgiven. What had happened wasn't erased but it was forgotten as the foundation for friendship was laid between the two.


End file.
